This invention relates to a method and device for introducing a stream of liquid into the nasal cavities of the head. This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/740,305.
The application of liquids to the membranes lining the nasal cavities of the head of a person as a means of treatment is well known. One method is to spray liquid into the nostrils where the liquid is of thin consistency and another is to administer drops into the nostrils where the liquid may have a thicker consistency or is an oil.
Another device, the subject of the SCOTT patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,652, May 23, 1995, is a cup containing a liquid that facilitates inhaling the liquid while the nose is inserted in a specially shaped opening in the side wall of the cup while the patient""s head and the cup is maintained in generally upright position. The drawback with the method is that the method or the device obviously does not allow introduction of liquid into the nasal cavity while the head is tilted forward greater than generally upright.
Other devices allow introducing liquid through one nostril under pressure while the head is tilted, the liquid reaching the posterior end of the septum to naturally drain out the other open nostril precluding the possibility of introducing the liquid by inhalation or filling the nasal cavity beyond the posterior end of the septum, or if the other nostril is closed, only a portion of the nasal cavity is filled, excluding the region along the septum on the side of the closed nostril and thus fail to enable completely filling the nasal cavity to the maximum extent possible.
Prior art descriptions of methods and devices for infusing the nasal cavity with liquid have simply mistakenly viewed allowance of liquid to enter the pharynx from the rear of the nasal cavity as a risk and undesirable, LOFSTEDT, U.S. Pat. No. 5,116,311, even though anatomically a person is fully able to voluntarily close the pharynx below the rear opening of the oral cavity to prevent liquid entering the lungs diverting the liquid into the mouth when liquid is received into the pharynx through the nasal cavity under external pressure.
When liquid is being inhaled through the nasal cavity into the pharynx and when anatomically the person""s head is in the face forward tilted position, it has not been described in the prior art that any liquid leaving the rear of the nasal cavity into the pharynx over the soft palate will pass directly into the oral cavity, if allowed to be open, by force of gravity as it passes down a diagonally or horizontally oriented pharynx. If the precaution is taken of assuring the head and thus the pharynx of the person is held at an angle of forward tilt in gravity and not a generally upright position, the rear opening of the oral cavity naturally along the floor of the pharynx in gravity, functions as a sink into which the liquid may drain to be expelled out the mouth. While the benefits of washing some regions of the nasal cavity while the head is tilted has been described in the prior art, tilting the head forward has not been described as a risk reduction measure while allowing liquid into the pharynx.
It is an object of this invention to provide a method and device for filling beyond the end of the septum or partially filling the forward regions along both sides of the septum of the nasal cavity of the head of a person with a liquid by inhalation or external pressure through the nostril openings while the head is safely tilted forward allowing controlled submersion and washing of the nasal cavity simultaneously in both regions along side the septum and the region behind the septum into the pharynx and embodiments comprising means for assuring that the head is at a safe angle of forward tilt during use while the liquid is being infused into the nasal cavity.